Why don’t you allow savings account for an NRI, PIO or a Mariner?

According to FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) regulation, it is illegal for Non residents to hold resident savings account in India. You will need to convert your resident savings account into an NRO account. If you continue to use your resident account, you might incur huge penalties.

Here are the type of bank accounts permitted for different residence status:

NRI: Non Resident Ordinary (NRO) or Non Resident External (NRE)
Mariner: Non Resident Ordinary (NRO) or Non Resident External (NRE)
PIO Resident overseas: Non Resident Ordinary (NRO) or Non Resident External (NRE)
PIO Resident in India: Savings Bank or Non Resident Ordinary (NRO)

Note:
The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 is an Act of the Parliament of India “to consolidate and change the law relating to foreign exchange with the objective of facilitating external trade and payments and for promoting the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India”.